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Brief Report: Cognitive Flexibility in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Quantitative Review

Leung, Rachel C., Zakzanis, Konstantine K.·2014·Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

DOI 10.1007/s10803-014-2136-4

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Abstract

Impairments in cognitive flexibility have been used to characterize the neuropsychological presentation of persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Previous studies have yielded mixed results. Our objective was to systematically review the sensitivity of cognitive flexibility measures in ASD using quantitative methods employed by meta-analytic statistical techniques. Seventy-two studies met inclusion criteria for analysis and included a total of 2,137 individuals with ASD and 2,185 healthy controls. Our findings demonstrate that while the shift sub-scale of the self-report version of the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) showed approximate absolute discriminability, of all the performance measures that were systematically reviewed and evaluated, none could reliably differentiate between individuals with ASD and controls; this is not surprising given that cognitive flexibility is not a core deficit of ASD. Our findings suggest that while the shift sub-scale of the self-report version of the BRIEF is a promising clinical marker, clinical performance measures of cognitive flexibility may lack ecological validity and lastly, reinforces that impairments in cognitive flexibility do not uniformly characterize all persons with ASD.

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Authors: Leung, R. C., & Zakzanis, K. K.
Affiliations: University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author: Leung, Rachel C.
ORCID: Leung, Rachel C.
Zakzanis, Konstantine K.
Venue: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2014-05-27
Volume: 44
Issue: 10
Pages: 2628-2645
ISSN: 0162-3257 (ISSN-L)
1573-3432
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2136-4
OpenAlex: W1981575082
Cited by: 192
References: 127
Citations by year: 2026: 11 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 3
FWCI: 0.84
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: Sick Kids Foundation
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
Keywords: cognitive flexibility, autism spectrum disorder, executive function, neuropsychological assessment, discriminability, ecological validity, clinical biomarkers
MeSH terms: Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Cognition, Female, Humans, Neuropsychological Tests, Executive Function, Self Report

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Brief Report: Cognitive Flexibility in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Quantitative Review

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